Kepler Wessels
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 South Africa (SA) |
||
 |
||
| Batting style | Left-handed batsman (LHB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Bowling type | Right-arm off-break / medium (OB / RM) | |
| Tests | ODIs | |
| Matches | 40 | 109 |
| Runs scored | 2788 | 3367 |
| Batting average | 41.00 | 34.35 |
| 100s/50s | 6/15 | 1/26 |
| Top score | 179 | 107 |
| Balls bowled | 90 | 749 |
| Wickets | - | 18 |
| Bowling average | - | 37.00 |
| 5 wickets in innings | - | - |
| 10 wickets in match | - | n/a |
| Best bowling | - | 2/16 |
| Catches/stumpings | 30/- | 49/- |
|
As of 25 January 2006 |
||
Kepler Christoffel Wessels (born September 14, 1957 in Bloemfontein) was a South African cricketer who captained South Africa after playing 24 Tests for Australia.
He was a left-handed opening batsman but also useful as a right arm off spinner and medium pace bowler.
He played first-class cricket for a variety of teams. In his native South Africa, Wessels played for Orange Free State, Western Province, Northern Transvaal, Eastern Province and Griqualand West. In Australia he played for Queensland, and in England he played for Sussex.
[edit] Early years
Kepler Wessels was six years old when he was introduced to the game of cricket by his sister's boyfriend, Johan Volsteedt. Volsteedt taught him the basics of the game and began to play regularly with young Kepler during Sunday visits to the Wessels home. A few years later, Volsteedt became the master in charge of cricket at Grey College in Bloemfontein, and coached Wessels, during his playing days for the school's first team.
From a very early age, Wessels showed exceptional sporting talent. By the age of 12 years, he was playing rugby for the Free State primary schools team and he was one of the leading schoolboy swimmers in the province. However, after a close encounter with death, due to nephritis, Kepler's father decided that his son would no longer be allowed to participate in swimming.
Wessels decided to switch to cricket, even though the rules of Grey College didn't allow him to play at such a young age. With the help of Johan Volsteedt (who was the first team captain), Wessels was allowed to participate in the net practices and soon cricket became his main activity during summer. During winter, he played tennis, in which he won so frequently that, by 1973, he as the number 1 under-16 player in South Africa, and was offered a scholarship of $25 000 over four years, from the University of Houston. However, due to the fact that he played as an under-16 against adults, Wessels began to lose regularly in senior tournaments. After a dramatic loss during the Griqualand West Open in Kimberley - after which he cut all the strings from his racket in the changing room - Wessels turned down the offer from Houston and decided to focus all his attention on cricket.
As a young cricket player, Wessels scored his first century at the age of nine years and was taken into the Free State under-13 side during the same year, getting scores of 80 (twice), 88 and 121 against players who were four years his senior. By the end of 1969, his batting average for Grey College (after nine innings) was 259.59. He was selected to represent the Free State schools side at the presitgious Nuffield Week for five consecutive seasons; and was selected three times for the South African schools side, the third season as captain.
Wessels finished his high school cricket career with an innings of 130 not out, during a home game for Grey College, against rival Queen's College from the Eastern Cape. His superb innings layed the foundation for Grey's first victory over Queen's in 18 years.
[edit] Batting Style
Wessels' batting was ungainly and he always appeared cramped. His unique style was well suited to playing on the off-side, and he had the reputation of being one of the best square-cutters in the world at the time. Bowlers soon learned that any ball delivered too wide of the off stump would quickly end up on the fence. Occasionally Wessels would cut the ball for six - a very unusual scoring shot in cricket history. Wessels moved his feet to ball very little and was very much successful due to trusting his incredible eye.
[edit] World Series Cricket
In the late 1970s, Wessels was drafted by Kerry Packer to play for the Australian World Series Cricket Team. As a South African with little hope of playing Test cricket for his country, Wessels joined the "circus" to take advantage of the better pay and conditions that the WSC offered.
He arrived in Sydney at the age of 21 and was put on trail at the local Waverley club, for Packer to see first if Wessels was decent material for World Series Cricket. After scoring 123 against Penrith, newspapers started speculating about a place for Wessels in the New South Wales state side. The media was unaware that Wessels had already signed for Packer. An innings of 137 followed against the Sydney club side and the selectors immediately named him in the state training squad. That was the signal Packer needed and he quickly called a press conference to announce that Wessels would be playing World Series Cricket instead.
Packer saw in Wessels a reliable opening batsman - something that the Australian WSC side was in serious need of. To help him find his feet in the new enviroment, Wessels played a couple of games for the second-string Cavaliers side. During his first game, two short balls had struck him in the ribs and on the chest, and in both cases, he refused to leave the field and battled on to score a respectable 54 from the innings.
Finally, Wessels was included in the Australian XI, for a one-day game against a World XI, which included four fellow South Africans. He scored 20, made 21 in the next game and them got 92 against the Cavaliers side. A Supertest against a 'Rest of the World' side followed in Melbourne, but Wessels scored only eight in the first innings. In the second innings, he managed to get to 46. He regained some respect, however, during the next Supertest against a West Indies XI, by scoring 126 in his first innings. During the Supertest final between Australia and the Rest of the World, Wessels scored 27 in his first innings, but experienced a miserable second one. Australia lost by five wickets.
The one-day series involved a best-of-five final between Austrlia and the West Indies and Wessels scored an unbeaten 136 during the first match, during one of the finest one-day innings of his career. He scored 40 and 70 from the next two games respectively, after which the West Indies led the series 2-1. They won the series during the fourth match, thanks to a better run-rate, when Australia couldn't finish bowling their 50 overs by the scheduled end of the match at 10:30 p.m.
A third leg to the World Series was due to be played in the West Indies, but Wessels was forced to stay behind, because he still held a South African passport and would not be granted visas for the Caribbean. It was the end of his World Series Cricket experience, as Packer reached a settlement with the Australian Cricket Board in 1979. The World Series was disbanded after that.
[edit] 1982/83 England Tour of Australia - Debut
Wessels stayed in Australia to qualify for the Australian Test side, playing for Queensland, and made his debut against England at The Gabba in Brisbane on November 26, 1982.[1] He became the first South-African born person to play for Australia, and the 13th Australian player to score a century on debut. Wessels dominated the English bowling, with scores of 162 in the first innings and 46 in the second. He was instrumental in Australia's victory by seven wickets and was given the "man of the match" award.
Wessels played four Tests in his debut series and scored 386 runs at 48.25. England in Australia, 1982-83
[edit] 1982/83 Australian Tour of Sri Lanka
In April, 1983, Australia played their inaugural Test against Sri Lanka. Wessels continued his good form with 141, thus becoming the first Australian player to score a century against Sri Lanka. He was named "man of the match" in Australia's innings victory.
[edit] 1983/84 Pakistan Tour of Australia
Wessels played in each of the five Tests against Pakistan, scoring 256 runs at an average of 42.66. This included 179 in the third Test, which remained his top score. Despite this moderately good form, Wessels was outscored by five other Australian players who took advantage of the poor quality Pakistani bowling.
Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh all retired from Australian cricket at the end of the series, and much was expected of Wessels (and others) to score consistently against the upcoming series against the West Indies.
[edit] 1983/84 Australian tour of West Indies
Any hope that Wessels and other new Australian batsmen would cope against the West Indian fast bowling was dashed. Wessels scored 4 and 20 in the first Test and 4 and 4 in the second Test before injury ruled him out of the rest of the series. He was dismissed by West Indian fast bowler Joel Garner three times, and was nicknamed "Joel's bunny" as a result. For the first time in his Test career, Wessels' form had deserted him and he was not a certainty for selection when the West Indians toured Australia in 1984/85.
[edit] 1984/85 West Indian Tour of Australia
As a Test player, Wessels' most successful period came during the disastrous 1984-1985 West Indian tour of Australia. After scoring only 13 and 0 in the First Test, Wessels was in danger of being dropped from the Australian side. However, due to the poor performance of almost all of Australia's batting in that match, he was retained for the Second Test. He responded by being out for 0 second ball, and many people thought that his career was over. In the second innings, however, he top scored with 61, giving the selectors no option but to include him for the Third Test. Batting up number 3, Wessels top scored again with 98 runs in the first innings and 70 in the second, in a match where the Australian batting was being taken apart by the West Indian bowlers.
The Fourth Test saw Wessels continue his heavy scoring, with 90 and 0 helping Australia force a draw. It was in the Fifth Test, however, which saw him totally dominate the West Indian bowlers with 173. His batting helped Australia to 9 (declared) for 471, which was a winning total on a wicket that was taking spin.
Wessels scored 505 runs at an average of 56.11 against the West Indies, which was more than double the amount of runs scored by any other Australian batsmen during that series. Given the dominance of West Indian bowling at the time, and the fragility of the Australian batting line-up, Wessels' performance during that series was world class.
[edit] 1985 Australian Tour of England - Rebel Tour links?
Unfortunately, Wessels was unable to maintain his form during the 1985 Ashes Tour of England. Although he scored three fifties (top score 83), Wessels ended the series with 368 runs at an average of 33.45. While this was not a failure, it was certainly below his best. Australia lost the series and suffered two very heavy innings defeats as, Allan Border aside, the batting lineup become increasingly fragile.
It is likely that the impending rebel tour to South Africa affected Wessels' concentration during the 1985 Ashes tour. Because of his South African background, Wessels was seen by many players and officials as one of the major contacts for the Rebel Tour amongst the Australian players. Wessels has steadfastly denied this accusation.
[edit] 1985/86 New Zealand Tour of Australia - Retirement
Wessels final match for Australia was the First Test against New Zealand in Brisbane, 8-12 November 1985. Wessels was alone in resisting the devastating bowling of Richard Hadlee, scoring 70 out of Australia's first innings total of 179. He scored only 3 in the second innings, with Australia suffering its heaviest defeat against New Zealand.
Soon after the match was finished, Wessels announced his retirement, expressing his disillusionment with Australian cricket. Little did he realise that only 6 years later he would be playing Test Cricket again, this time for his home nation.
[edit] Between Test Careers
Cricket was still Wessels' profession, and he played a full season (1985/86) of Sheffield Shield Cricket for Queensland where he scored 957 runs at an average of 50.37. He also captained the side in Border's absence, and was unlucky not to captain the first Queensland side to win the Sheffield Shield. The final, between NSW and Queensland, was held in Sydney on 14-18 March, 1986. Despite Wessels scoring 166 and 29 in his last match for Queensland, and despite a dominating all-round performance from his team, the match ended in a draw, which allowed NSW to win the Sheffield Shield. Wessels' last act for Queensland was a creditable individual bowling performance of 16-5-26-2, including the wicket of a young Mark Waugh.
After the season finished, Wessels re-settled in South Africa again and began playing, this time for Eastern Province. Before moving to Australia, Wessels had played for Orange Free State, Western Province and Northern Transvaal. He remained playing for Eastern Province from 1986 until his retirement in 2000. His debut with Eastern Province was auspicious, captaining the side to a 212-run victory over Orange Free State, and personal scores of 133 and 78 against a bowling attack that included a young Allan Donald.
Wessels was also included in the 1986/87 Australian rebel tour to South Africa, where he played for Australia. The series of four "Tests" ended in a 1-0 victory to the South African team, but Wessels scored 327 runs at 54.50, including two centuries in the fourth match. Wessels played with many former Australian team-mates in this series, including Kim Hughes, John Dyson, Steve Smith, Rodney Hogg, Carl Rackemann and Terry Alderman. His involvement in this tour re-ignited suspicions that he was one of the covert organisers, but it was the last time Wessels ever represented Australia in cricket.
In 1986/87, Wessels scored 1160 runs at 64.44 in matches for Eastern Province and the Australian Rebel side. Despite finishing second in the Currie cup, Wessels and Eastern Province were defeated in the semi-final.
In 1987/88, Wessels scored 504 runs at 45.81, but Eastern Province lacked bowling strength and finished last in the southern pool for the Currie Cup.
In 1988/89, Wessels scored 806 runs at 57.57. He also led Eastern Province to its first victory in the Currie Cup, which more than made up for his failure to lead Queensland to the Sheffield Shield in 1985/86. In this achievement, Wessels was ably assisted by Ken McEwan (885 runs at 80.45), Philip Amm (755 runs at 50.33), 23 year-old Mark Rushmere (609 runs at 40.60), Greg Thomas (39 wickets at 20.94), former Australian bowler Rod McCurdy (20 wickets at 26.65) and Tim Shaw (34 wickets at 24.38). In the final, Eastern Province managed to defeat perennial title-holders Transvaal, ending a remarkable seven year undefeated streak for Transvaal.
In 1989/90, Wessels scored 477 runs at 34.07, and captained Eastern Province to their second Currie Cup (shared with Western Province). Apart from their first-class success, Wessels also managed to captain the side to victory in the Nissan Shield one-day series and the Benson and Hedges Trophy one-day series.
Frank Heydenrych, writing for the 1991 Wisden, comments upon Eastern Province's success during this season:
- ...from the way that Kepler Wessels, (the Eastern Province captain), had reinforced their playing squad with high-quality players, it was difficult to see an immediate end to the golden days (and nights) he had brought to Eastern Province.
In 1989/90 Wessels also played for South Africa against a rebel English team captained by Mike Gatting. He scored 1 & 2 in the only match played, which South Africa won.
In 1990/91, Wessels scored 871 runs at 45.84, but Eastern Province managed to lose all three trophies they had gained the previous season.
[edit] Captain of the 'New' South Africa
With apartheid being removed from South Africa in 1991, the International Cricket Council unanimously removed the ban against playing South Africa. As a result, South Africa could now play Test and One-day international cricket.
By now, Wessels was considered an important figure in South African cricket. At 34, he had both the first-class experience of contemporaries such as Clive Rice and Jimmy Cook, but also had experience at Test level that no other South African player had. When South Africa played its first Test since March, 1970, ten of the eleven players were making their debuts.
South Africa narrowly lost to a West Indian team featuring such players as Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Patrick Patterson, Desmond Haynes and Brian Lara. South Africa, under Wessels' leadership, controlled most of the match but fell for 148 chasing 201 for victory in the final innings. Wessels contributed 59 and 74 in this Test.
The tenacious and gritty Wessels continued his captaincy and leadership of a talented, eager and inexperienced South african line-up until 1994, at 37, when he handed the reins over to Hansie Cronje.
[edit] See also
[edit] Bibliography
- Edward Griffiths. Kepler: The Biography. Pelham Books, 1994.
[edit] External links
Categories: 1957 births | Living people | Australian ODI cricketers | Australian Test cricketers | Australian cricketers | Cricket commentators | Cricketers who have played for more than one international team | Eastern Province cricketers | Free State cricketers | Griqualand West cricketers | Northern Transvaal cricketers | Queensland cricketers | South African ODI cricketers | South African Test cricketers | South African cricket captains | South African cricketers | Sussex cricketers | Western Province cricketers | Wisden Cricketers of the Year | World Series Cricket players | Afrikaners | Old Greys
